The Tigers have expressed interest in free agent righty Taijuan Walker, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). While the Detroit club has an array of young pitching on hand, Morosi says the intention is to ink at least one veteran hurler.
Walker’s career has been hampered by injury issues, but he was at full health for the partial 2020 campaign. He compiled 53 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA pitching over 11 starts.
Alas, the results look a lot better than the underlying numbers. Opposing hitters registered only a .286 wOBA but produced contact quality suggesting a much more robust .325 xwOBA (though Walker did land in the 74th percentile in hard contact rate). Fielding-independent pitching measures weren’t terribly optimistic; Walker checked in with a 4.56 FIP, 4.82 xFIP, and 4.60 SIERA. He managed only a 7.8% swinging-strike rate last year.
Suffice to say, teams considering Walker will likely not be chasing upside so much as hoping for reasonably priced, solid innings. And there’s reason to think he can serve as a useful back-of-the-rotation starter. Walker was healthy enough in 2020 to average 93.5 mph with his fastball, not far off his career average, and he won’t turn 29 until August. MLBTR graded him the 23rd-best available free agent, predicting that he’d land a two-year, $16MM contract.
Ooo, I like this idea a lot. Tigers and Mets both looking like they are going to take big steps this off-season.
Uhh, I’m not sure I would put those two teams in the same sentence. The Mets are trying to sign guys like Bauer, Springer, and Realmoto to put on a team that already includes a number of really good players. The Tigers are looking to add a number 5 starter, and they don’t even have a good team right now. These are not equivalent.
Agreed, Dan. Tigers are building up over the next 2-3 years and should be looking for value signings to bridge that span. Mets are trying to get there sooner and the new owner is willing to spend big to put it together. Two completely different styles for two completely different markets.
You can be far ahead or far behind, but you can still take big steps forward… I think that was Rangers29’s point.
Exactly what I meant Jacob.
He has some upside, and is fairly young. He can’t be worse than the last guy they signed for 16mm over 2 years. I still wouldn’t mind bringing Mike Fiers back.
I’m not sure Fiers and Hinch would be a great fit.
Doesn’t a reunion of Hinch and Fiers seem unlikely, though?
EDIT: mightyjar must have posted seconds before me lol
Both Fiers and Hinch were unhappy with what was going on when they were in Houston. Do you think Springer would be a better match? Fiers is exactly the type they need, experienced, capable, cheap and HEALTHY. Their last few attempts at adding veteran depth spent the year year on the IL.
Agree, potential is there for young arms, but they need a vet.
He should pitch his best if they make it clear that he’s the Veteran leader (at least one of them) on the staff. 29 is the right age to have both experience and still no lose physical tools. Sign him asap and his off season prep should even go better
He so has to sign with the Texas Rangers
Hes coming home to Seattle without a doubt.
Ehhh, that doesn’t surprise me whatsoever. Most pitchers that pitch to contact, and don’t strike out alot of guys, their advanced numbers are typically always going to look alot worse than their actual numbers.
That’s why pitchers like Teheran, Quintana, etc. are able to consistently outperform their advanced stats..Simply because advanced numbers do not cater whatsoever to contact pitchers..
They end up punishing the pitchers for relying on their defense, pitching to contact, and they typically look at these types as getting lucky, thinking that their actual numbers will ultimately take a hit and go south eventually…
This is why advanced metrics are not the end all be all of baseball, and why it is best to not only take account of ALL the information you can gather, but it is also why some times you should actually watch pitchers pitch and hitters hit..
Amen, Bravesfan! I’ve said this before recently but imagine what the advanced metrics would say about a young Greg Maddox these days? He had a career SO9 under 7. Too much is being put into K rates and spin rates these days. The eye test is also needed to truly evaluate a player, especially a pitcher who pitches to contact.
Largely agree with you! One thing to note is that advanced statistics compares you to the average. So while Teheran and Quintana might be doing well on their current teams that cater to their pitching abilities (e.g. better fielding), but them on a different team may result in the predicted ERA and hits that advanced statics fear.
Yep^^
The dodgers would probably get better results from walker than say the Tigers, because LA’s defense is better
Advanced stats are trying to quantify if things were neutral, as brad said. Some guys can outperform the metrics, but that’s likely because their teammates picked em up a few times
In short, teams should add pitchers that fit their team and ballpark. Flyball pitchers shouldn’t pitch in Yankee Stadium. And groundball pitchers shouldn’t pitch for teams with a poor infield.
2/16 for Walker seems like an overpay. I’d want to see him prove he’s back over a full season before committing to a multi-year contract to him. I’m not sure he can hold up over a full season, let alone two+.
Come back to the Mariners! Red Sox and Mets could be interested.
Brad I couldn’t agree more! It felt that when they let him walk that he was/is coming back
I would love to have Walker back, but it would only be for next year and maybe the year after.
I can’t picture Dipoto signing Walker for more than 2 years tops.
Timing being what it is, Walker is just a bridge and won’t be here for the good stuff, if there will be any good stuff. (Winning)
I would still like to see him on the mound for the Mariners though, as long I accept the situation for what it is.
If that 2/8MM per is real then the jays should bring him back without question.
This is not a good fit.
The Tigers need that one solid starter to take pressure off the rest of the staff. However, I fear that Taijuan Walker will tax the pen when he is healthy but will spend a considerable amount of time on the IL.
Braves better be in the hunt also. An affordable solid enough pitcher for the back in of our rotation…
He was loved and a great here in Toronto. Please re-sign
Hope you’re right.
Well he loves Seattle more. I am sure there was an under the table talk about them getting players then having him back next year. He understands the business and will have a pretty good D behind him here. He is coming back home.
Walker would be a great inexpensive addition to Rangers. He is young enough to fit into a stop-gap plan to buy Winn, Reagans, and Crouse some more time to fully develop..The addition of Walker and perhaps Quintana and the attempt to sign Kluber and/or Archer to low base high incentive contracts could be exactly what Texas needs to be sure youngsters are not pushed until ready. Lynn likely will be traded to Jays, Mets, Cubs, Reds, Yankees, or Cards so Rangers need at least three pitchers.
Tigers have had dreadful luck with recent FA starters. Matt Moore, Ivan Nova. Walker won’t make it to June 1st.
Walker, Kluber, or Lester. Yankees need to take a chance on one of them.
Dreadful? They secured the #3 pick. Seems to be working out for them.